Re: An anonymous IRC user's opinion

["Dr. Arne Babenhauserheide" <arne_bab@web.de>]

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Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org> writes:

>   > It is a good editor without any pre-configuration (it even ships
>   > org-mode). But to be a good Web-IDE, C++ or Scheme programming
>   > environment, Server automation plattform, and so forth, it requires
>   > configuration.
>
> Between there to what follows
>
>   > Which might be a reason why it is discovered by writers, and why
>   > Spacemacs and Doom capture new people.
>
> there is an yawning gulf.  My imagination can't get me from one to the
> other.  Can you please explain how to cross?
>
> You listed Web-IDE, C++ or Scheme programming environment, and Server
> automation plattform as kinds of work a user might want Emacs set up
> for.  Choosing Spacemacs first, does it do some of those three things?
> Does Doom do some of those three things?

Yes: both Spacemacs and Doom provide ready-made configurations that can
be activated to get an environment optimized for that task.

> Aldo, when you say that each of them requires "configuration", could
> you make that more concrete?  What sort of configuration does "Web
> IDE" require?  What sort for Scheme programming environment?  And so
> on.  I'm not asking for all the details, just an overall idea.

Activating the correct set of modes, installing some packages, tweaking
some customizations.

> Could we easily add those missing kinds of configuration to Emacs?
> If we did, would that make Emacs competitive with Spacemacs and Doom?

That’s the point, yes: improving the newcomer experience of regular
Emacs. But note that Spacemacs and Doom are simply configurations of
Emacs, though pretty far from Vanilla Emacs.

> so that it is necessary to choose which one to install.
>
> Is that what people assume?  If people do, why so?  Why can't
> users select one at run time?

I do not assume that. It’s rather that a C++ IDE and a writing system
and Scheme Programming and a Web-IDE have a lot of overlap, so some of
the modes they use are the same, sometimes with a bit different setup.

For long-time users that’s great: all the different things interact
nicely. That’s something not found elsewhere.

But for new users it means that they can’t just activate the C++-mode,
but instead they have to track down the right configuration options.

There are already some optimized setups for C++ (and for others, too),
but which one of these are good for the specific task is hard to figure
out and they are not really discoverable from Emacs. And that’s also a
step that most users today won’t do. They see that Emacs doesn’t solve
their current problem out of the box and switch to a program that does.

Best wishes,
Arne
-- 
Unpolitisch sein
heißt politisch sein,
ohne es zu merken.
draketo.de

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